Titan's Ring
by Crei Sanada
Summary: Cye is having strange dreams, and a girl with a strange gift shows up. But Talpa is after her, and so is something else. But its after Cye too! Why?
1. Default Chapter

Note: I don't own Ronin Warriors, I make no claims to them (I'm penniless so why bother suing?) But I do own the characters that I make up (Crei, Mikkel, leos, ect.) so if you feel like using them, ask my permision first, please. Thank you.  
  
Key: ::-:: Means mind-speak(telepathy)  
Dreaming/vision  
'' means thoughts  
  
  
Mist floated down through the trees, covering evrything in a cold grey veil. It was dark, and not just from the fog. The sun was hidden behind huge dark clouds, from which the roar of thunder could be heard. Rain fell in a cold drizzle, soaking everything. All was quiet and still. Cye stood withing a clearing, surrounded by three and mist, the rain running down his face and body. WHy he has here he didn't know. He could see barely anything other than the outline of the trees, or a large rock somehwere next to him. It was very cold, and he couldn't move. Try as hard as he did, he was stuck in the clearing.  
  
"Where am I?" Cye asked himself. "What is this place?"  
  
Of course no one answered. There was no one to answer him. But the rain did stop suddenly, and the mist slowly began to evaporate. Still Cye couldn't move. But as the mist began to fall back among the trees, it began to come together, forming into a shape, a human. The human looked to be no younger than Cye himself, with long red hair and blue eyes. She had a mournful expression on her face. She held a sword in her left hand, a long golden feather in the other. Who she was and why she was there, Cye didn't know.   
  
The girl stepped foreward, able to move as Cye could not. It took him a moment to realize that she wasn't walking, rather, she was floating! She stopped about two feet in front of Cye, where he could see her clearly. She was wearing a dress of irredecent silk that shimmered when she moved. She looked eerie in the pale light, it made her seem as if she was glowing. Cye tried to step back, to ask who she was, but no sound came from his throat, and he seemed frozen where he stood. The strange girl raised the hand with the feather in it, and brushed it over Cye's face. Suddenly, everything went blank!  
  
Cye woke up, breathing heavily as if he had been running. The entire house was silent, save for kento's snoring of course. He looked out the window where the moon hung low over the trees, thinking about his dream. It wasn't the first time he had had this dream, but the first time it had been so clear. Nor could he figure out what it meant. He hadn't told the other Ronins, why bother? Its not like it had something to do with Talpa. At least, he hoped it didn't. But it still bothered Cye that he couldn't figure it out. Who was that girl? He felt as if he had met her before. But that was impossible, wasn't it? Cye decided to push the dream from his mind and layed back down. He would need his sleep, since tomorrow they were going on a camping trip up in the mountains. That had been Rowen's idea, and Cye had gone along, just like did with about every other plan. Besides, if kento snored at night Cye would have a reson to dump a bucket of cold water on Kento without getting in trouble with Mia. That thought in mind, Cye went back to a more comfortable sleep.  
  
****************************************************************************  
  
Crei woke up, startled! She had done it again, wandered into another person's mind. Not intentionally, but she had done it. Being able to go into another person's mind was a gift of hers, but it worked only when she and the other person was asleep. Her second gift was the ability to hear and feel people's thoughts and emotions. THAT gift was one she would rather do without. Her brothers told her that it meant she had strong magic in her, but why would they know something like that. 'Probably one more of their secrets' Crie thought.  
  
She got out of her bed and stood up, sighing loudly. The sun was beginning to peak over the hills, and that meant she had some extra time before she had to do her chores. She quickly dressed in her t-shirt and overalls, and put on her boots, grabbing her back pack and ran downstairs and out the kitchen door. The rest of her family was still asleep, so she could slip out unnoticed by her mother or brothers.  
  
Crei ran down the dirt road, turning off at a small wooded path that lead into the forest. Her mother disapproved of Crei going into the forest, but Crei could have cared less. She loved the woods, the scenery, but more than that she loved the hotsprings hidden within the woods. These were in a cave hidden by ivy vines and small shrubs. Crie had found it when she had been running from her oldest brother Ethan. The cave and its hotsprings quickly became her secret hiding place.  
  
And the hotsprings weren't the only cool thing about the cave. In the deepest cavern was a giant crystal that glowed whenever Crei got within five feet of it. It was shaped like an eagle with its wings spread in a gliding position, and it looked like it would actually move. Crei wanted to know who had made the crystal, but she didn't tell anyone about it, for fear her hiding spot would be found. And she had seem if anything else caused it to glow, but with all the bats and mice that entered the cave, it stayed dull until Crei got near it. Maybe it had something to do with her "magic". Certainly she felt better when she was near it than she did any other time. She felt warm and calm, as though something had placed a warm cloth over her mind, blocking out all thoughts but her own. It made her feel good.  
  
She found the cave without any trouble, and squeezed through the vines. Once inside she pulled a flashlight out of her backpack and turned it on. She knew the path to the springs well enough, but there was a riddle of other tunnels that she had yet to explore, and that was what she planned on doing today. If she accidently "forgot" the time (something she never did) then she wouldn't have to do her chores. That would make her brothers made, but they wouldn't be able to do anything about it. She was, after all, her mother's favorite.  
  
The tunnel she chose to explore today was a small, narrow thing that only she could have fit down. Her brothers would never have made it for all the money in the world. She walked through the tunnel slowly, marking the wall with chack every few meters so she didn't get lost. Before long she found herself in a small cavern, with columns of pale pink rock dotting the place. In the flashlight glow, the place seemed strange a mystical. Crei wondered deeper into the cavern, suddenly finding herself facing another strage shaped rock that glowed as she approached! This one glowed a pale blue color, just as the eagle one had glowed red. But this one was not eagle! This creature was a gryphon! It was larger than Crei by about 3 feet, and each feather was carved with such detail as the first that it, too, looked real. The eyes were made from a pale greenish-blue stone, and looked strangely human. One single feather from its tail was gold, unlike the others, which were an ocean blue color.  
  
Crei touched the gold feather, and instantly a rush of images filled her mind! A bunch of boys camping, a large tiger, mountains, a giant waterfall, a rageing fire... there were more, but Crei couldn't sort them out, her mind was too overloaded. She quickly drew her hand away, sinking to the floor. She felt worse now than she ever had going into a large city with so many people who had loud minds. But the headache slowly faded and Crie was able to pull out a map she had been making of the caverns. She drew the tunnel and this cavern, marking it with the gryphon as the main point in the cave. That done she stood back up.  
"I don't know what you are, but you're important. Wish I knew what built you things, though."   
Crei then left the cavern to go for a swim before she did any more exploring.   
  
The hot springs felt good to her sore muscles, and gave Crei and chance to think about what had made those statues. She had the strangest feeling that she would find two more if she looked, but she pushed the thought from her mind. How would she know if there were really two more of those strange statues in these caves when she hadn't even found them yet. But still, something in her mind told her that they WERE there and that she should go and find them NOW! So, whith great reluctance, Crei left the pool and redressed, ready to do some more exploring.  
  
She didn't take her flashlight with her, nor any of her other supplies. Something in her mind was telling her to move FAST and leaded her in the right direction. She ended up going down a tunnel that opened in the back of the hot springs and that twisted and turned every which way. At one point it dropped down about three feet into another tunnel, which was as windy and confusing as the first. Still the strange force pulled her on, and still she followed until she finally reached the largest cavern she had ever seen! And inside were the two statues that had been in her mind!  
  
The first statue was of a large wolf, but oddly enough its fur was a pale green, like seafoam! Its eyes stared transfixed on Crei, which made her feel uneasy. This creature was bigger than the gryphon, and from the opened mouth, it had many more sharp teeth. The second statue was as odd as the first, perhaps more so. It looked like a giant cat with long fangs, much like a sabertooth tiger's. It was the same size as the gryphon had been, and it too had wings. But instead of feathers on its wings, this creature had scales! And spikes unlike anything Crei had seen in her life ran down its spine and tail, ending in a long upward-curved blade! It was made of a pale yellow stone, almost like the color of lightning. And unlike the first two, these statues didn't glow. But just as Crei reached out to touch the cat-creature statue, it moved its head and winked at her! Screaming at the top of her lungs, Crei ran out of the carvern adn back down the tunnels, not stopping at the spring to get her things. In fact, she didn't stop running until she got home. 


	2. Titan's Ring ch.2

::Now, was that necessary to scare her like that?:: asked a deep voice.  
  
::I didn't mean to. I thought she would laugh.:: replied a much lighter voice, this one had a   
bit of a laugh in it.  
  
::She has no idea what we are, nor what she is! You probably scared her away from the caverns   
permanetly, you idiot! That means we'll have to go and find her, convince her to come back with   
us so we can teach her before THEY merge and destroy the Earth and the other worlds as well!::  
  
::I'm sorry, friend. I meant no harm in it. Besides, the other one is starting to come to his   
senses as well. She's opening him up to it, even if neither of them realize it. So we might as   
well go for both of them.::  
  
The creatue with the deep voice sighed. ::It won't be easy. He has been trained once before,   
and may not want to use his natural gifts to fight this enemy. After all he has fought one of   
them before.::  
  
::Be that as it may, we have to try. We need all four Titans to create the Power Ring to stop   
THEM from enetering the Earth-realm and destroying it. You know the Ronin Warriors alone will   
not be able to stop THEM.::  
  
::Then lets get going. We have much work to do.::  
  
*************************************************************************************  
  
Crei was much more relaxed once she was back within her room, away from the statues. Had they   
really moved or had she imagined it? She didn't know, but she was certain she didn't want to go  
back for a few days. She just wanted to pretend she had never seen the statue move, or the cave  
it was in or anything. So instead she though about the other images she had picked up from the   
gryphon. They seemed to have something to do with her. The boys, the tiger, she was worried   
about what the fire meant. Could they be in danger? Was she picking up something from some   
person's mind? If so she should figure out what was going to happen.  
  
So once again Crei left her room, this time raiding the kitchen and garage for camping supplies.  
This time her mother was in the kitchen and asked her where she was running to in such a hurry.  
  
"I'm going camping for a few days, if that's okay. I just need to get away from the noise."  
  
"Okay, just be back before Monday. Your grandparents are coming over from America."  
  
Crei nodded as she ran out the door and got on her bike, riding away from the house as quickly as  
she could. It would take her the rest of the day to reach the place from her visions, since she  
knew the place well. The mountains ans that particular waterfall was a favorite camping site for  
her and her brothers. And that was where the people in her vision were. And perhaps there she   
would find some answers.  
  
As she had predicted, she reached the area just as the sun set. She didn't want to barge in on   
the group, but she wanted to see who they were. So that meant doing what her Native American  
grandparents had taught her. Camp in the trees and watch as the owls did. She had done this to  
her brothers before, and with her sharp sight and hearing it was a rather useful way of finding   
information.  
  
So she hid her bike and set up her tent for when she got too tired, then went to find the group  
of people. She moved from tree to tree, using the branches as a road until she found them,   
camped out along the river, with the waterfall behind them. They were all sitting around a fire,  
five young men her age, a younf woman a bit older, a really small boy, and a white tiger. The  
tiger looked up in her direction, and she knew he knew she was there, but he just lay back down,  
choosing to ignore her. Obviously he didn't think her a threat. Thankfully for her, since she   
had no intentions of running.  
  
Crei hid there fro some time, listening to their conversation, but most of it was just the normal  
joking around that friends did when they were out on a vacation. Nothing interesting for her to  
listen to. Until, that was, when one of the boys mentioned a dream he'd been having that was  
bothering him. As she listened Crei realized it was the dream she had wandered into. She felt   
her cheeks go hot as he described the girl(her). She really had to learn to control her gift.  
Still, when it had happened she had been aware of it, and it had felt as if something was telling  
her she HAD to go. So it wasn't her fault. And could that be part of the vision that she had   
not been able to comprehend because she had shut her mind away from it? She didn't know, but she  
had the feeling she should keep a close watch on this boy.  
  
The other people in the group seemed at a loss as to what the boy's (Crei heard them call him   
Cye) dream meant. They decided to talk more about it in the morning, to which they put out the  
fire and went into their tents. With nothing more to watch, Crei hopped dwon from her branch  
silently to return to her own tent. She turned to the path to find the tiger blocking her path.  
  
"What do you want?" Crei hissed softly. "Get out of the way!"  
  
To her surprise, the tiger walked up, licked her face, and went back to sleep in front of one of  
the four tents next to the river. Sighing loudly Crei ran back to her own campsite without any  
more trouble. She crawled into her own tent, ate a few crackers, then curled up in a ball and  
fell into a deep sleep.  
  
Again Cye was standing in a clearing, surrounded by trees. There was no mist this time, only  
and unending veil of rain. All was still and silent, and once again Cye found himself unable to  
move or walk. He felt something around him, both a coldness and a warmth, but he couldn't find  
where it was coming from, nor why it was around him.  
  
In her sleep Crei tossed and turned, trying to fight the comand to enter the person's dream. But   
the more she pulled, the more the force pulled back, and she found herself falling through a dark  
icy tunnel, coming out the other end in Cye's mind.  
  
The girl appeared once again, standing on the other edge of the clearing, sword in one hand, the  
feather in the other. Again she floated across the clearing, stopping right in front of Cye.   
She held the feather up, the expression in her eyes more scared than mournful this time. Again  
she brushed the feather across Cye's face, and everything went dark.  
  
Cye woke up, sweat pouring down his face and back. He could hear the sounds of a light rain  
falling, and could see lightening flash across the sky from inside the tent. He thought he heard  
thunder, but couldn't be sure if it was just kento's snoring. He didn't want to go outside,   
despite the feeling in his mind that told him he should. He tried to ignore that voice, but it  
just kept getting louder and louder until he got up and stepped outside.  
  
Almost immediately the rain fell harder, and he could definitely hear the roar of thunder over  
everything else. Lightening lit the sky for brief seconds, giving everything a frightening wild  
look. WhiteBlaze had taken shelet within Ryo's tent, so no one saw Cye walking into the woods,  
as if in a trance.  
  
******************************************************************************************  
  
::You do realize that if I keep this up, the trees may catch fire:: said the tenor voice.  
  
::I know. That's what we want, but not yet:: replied the deeper voice.  
  
::Now why are we doing this again?:: the first voice asked.  
  
::So their powers emerge. This was how ours came, by the elements errupting from the earth   
itself. And she had a vision of how theirs was going to happen, so we are making it happen::  
  
::Oh::  
  
::Now! He is in the clearing!::  
  
A bolt of well-directed lighting shot from the clouds, hitting an old tree, making it catch fire!  
It quickly spread to the other trees, encirling the boy, trapping him in the clearing! He tried  
to get out, but the wall of flames rose too high, pushing him back towards the center. Cye had  
no chance of escaping.  
  
******************************************************************************************  
  
Crei woke up in a panic, feeling like she had to get up and run, NOW! She didn't stop to put her  
shoes on or to grab her coat, she just ran into the woods, ignoring the rain. She didn't know  
where exactly she was going until she saw the smoke billowing from above the trees. Knowing the  
ground was too muddy for her to run fast enough to reach the fire in time Crei jumped into the  
first low branch she found and began to run through the trees, following the smoke.  
  
She looked down for a second to see that she wasn't the only one concerned about the fire. The   
white tiger and the other four boys were runnign below her, oblivious that she was even there.  
But now the boys looked different. They were wearing strnge armor unlike any she had seen before  
But there was no time to think about that. She realized that Cye was trapped within the fire,   
and that she had to get there to stop the fire.  
  
Following every instinct in her body, Crei pushed herself to run faster, breaking ahead of the   
boys! She soon got close enough that she had to leave the trees and run on the ground. No doubt  
from the roaring of the tiger behind her, they had been taken aback by her sudden appearance.   
but she didn't care about that at the moment. She was now faced with a great wall of fire that   
was consuming the trees in a circle, moving closer and closer together. She could sense that  
some one was inside the flames and she knew that it was Cye.  
  
Taking a deep breath and calming herself as well as she could, Crei ran into the flames! Or more  
like something pushed her in. But the fire didn't burn her! It was as if they weren't even real  
or anything! But it was quite clear that they were real for Cye, who was now also wearing armor,  
and was trying to keep the fire back by shooting water at it! Crei ran over him and pulled his  
arm down.  
  
"Stop Cye!" Crei shouted. "You'll make the fire worse! Let me handle it!"  
  
"Who are you? How did you know my name?" Cye demanded, bewildered.  
  
"Trust me. Get rid of your armor! Do it now!"  
  
Cye did as she asked, although he looked doubtful. Crei herself didn't really know what she was   
doing, she just closed her eyes and reached out to touch the flames that were now very close to  
them. The fire stopped suddenly, staying where it was now circled around them. The fire didn't  
hurt her, nor would it hurt Cye as long as she was there. Suddenly, without warning, the fire  
drew up around Crei, flowing into her body and vanishing from sight! She stood where she was,  
shocked. Everything was dark, and only the rain and lightning made any sound. She couldn't see  
anyone save for Cye and herself, everything else was completely dark!  
  
Then, from out of the darkness emerged two creatures, on a giant wolf, the other a cat-creature  
with two scale-covered wings. Both looked just like the statues she had seen in the cave! The  
two beasts stopped in front of Crei and Cye, watching them with cold eyes. Crei shrunk back next   
to Cye, trembling sightly. Cye, on the other hand, stepped foreward, ready to fight!  
  
"What are you and what do you want?" He demanded.  
  
"We want not to harm you, but to help you," said the cat creature. "I am Leos, Titan of Light."  
  
"And I am Mikkel, Titan of Earth," said the wolf. "You two are very special. Both of you are   
like us, Titans. Crei has shown her skill just now, by abosorbing the fire. She is the Titan of  
Fire. And you, Cye, are the Titan of Water. And we need you to help us protect the earth."  
  
"Why? Protect it from what?" Cye asked.  
  
"You know one of the creatures, Talpa. The other is called Kuhndai, who is a Dreyan, a very   
powerful demon. They are merging to become one beast, and without all four Titans, the earth and  
all other worlds will be destroyed."  
  
"Hey, I'm all up for it and everything," crei stated, "but I am just a kid! I'm 16 for crying   
out loud! I don't know how to fight demons or stuff like that! I am HUMAN!"  
  
"So are we," Leos said. "We have just taken our Titan form so as to tell you about this. And as  
for the fighting bit, we will teach you how to use your powers."  
  
"Well, I might as well," Crei sighed. "I'm going crazy anyway."  
  
Mikkel turned to Cye. "And what about you, Ronin Warrior? Will you put down your armor for the  
time being to train with us? You may have fought Talpa before, but this will be nothing like   
your previous battles."  
  
"Why not just let my friend and I handle it? The armors are strong, and we can beat Talpa, and   
whatever new creature is with him."  
  
Leos shook his head. He knew this was going to be hard. He gave Mikkel a quick glance, and saw  
the wolf nod. Leos walked up to cye and placed one huge paw on the boy's head, and instantly  
Cye was in Leos's mind! He saw many images of destruction, and over it all loomed a giant black  
shadow that looked like a mix between a human, a cat and a bull! When Leos pulled his paw away  
Cye looked very pale.  
  
"That is why we need the Titans. That was our people that Kuhndai destroyed and scattered to the  
Four Winds. Leos and I learned that we were Titans not long after we became old enough to speak,  
and our powers grew since that time. We learned how to find the other two Titans and that gift  
lead us to you. Yes, we will need the Ronin Warriors, but you must also act as a Titan to save   
this world and the others. We need your help Cye. Please."  
  
"Now it was Cye's turn to sigh. "If that's what happened before from just one demon, I don't see  
what choice I have to do otherwise."  
  
"Good. Now, follow us. Leos will take care of your friends. They wont remember a fire or any  
of this. And I'm sure he'll think of a way to explain your sudden depature. Right Leos?"  
  
"Yes, Mikkel," Leos grinned, taking off into the darkness. Then Mikkel turned back to Crei and  
Cye. He smiled, all of his teeth glowing white in the darkness.  
  
"Now, lesson one begins now. You'll have to take on your Titan forms to reach the Temple."  
  
"And how do we do that?" Crei asked.  
  
"Simple. Just clear your minds, and let your magic do the rest."  
  
"Sound easy," Cye said, closing his eyes. Crei did the same.  
  
Both felt a rush of hot energy flowing over them, and while their instincts tried to tell them  
to fight it, they ignored them and let the energy change them. A minute later when they opened  
their eyes, neither of them was human. Crei was a large bird, not unlike an eagle, save for her  
very long tail. She was a fire red color, and her eyes were the deepest sapphire blue. Cye, to  
Crei's surprise, looked just like the gryphon she had seen! Everything looked just like the  
statue, even the gold feather on his tail. Cye seemed surprised by this form, and looked at  
Mikkel with wide eyes.  
  
"It takes some time to get used to, believe me. For now, we must get going. Leos will meet us  
at the Temple."  
  
With that said, all three of them vanished into the darkness.  
  
  



End file.
